The present invention relates to the mitigation of DC offset voltage in amplifiers and, more specifically, to the use of such techniques in audio amplifiers to eliminate or reduce undesirable audible artifacts when amplification begins.
In virtually any amplification system, a standard design goal is the minimization of DC offset voltage. DC offset voltage is defined as a non-zero DC voltage observed at the amplifier output when zero DC voltage is applied to the input. In an audio amplifier, the DC offset voltage can appear suddenly at the output terminals (and thus at the speakers) at the instant the amplifier is energized or activated, producing an unpleasant thump or pop. This phenomenon is observed in both linear and switching amplifiers.
Minimization of DC offset voltage can be achieved by the use of carefully matched circuit elements, by adaptive (i.e., self-adjusting) mechanisms, or both. Some amplification systems are designed with relays between their output stages and the speakers that are open at the time the amplifier is energized and close only after a very slow acting continuous time servo loop has had sufficient time to null the output offset. The use of relays is costly, however, and can impact reliability as well. The slow acting servo loop also requires a time constant that is large (i.e., it must be significantly greater than the period of the lowest audio frequency being amplified) and is therefore difficult to integrate onto a silicon chip. Digital solutions to this problem have been effective, but are typically costly both in terms of economic costs as well as chip area.
It is therefore desirable to provide improved techniques for reducing or minimizing undesirable effects associated with DC offset in switching amplifiers.